Togusa perks up. This is one of his favorite subjects. "Daisuke? Oh, he's great. I got him from the shelter in February. The owner thinks Daisuke is about 4?" Sometimes hard to tell exact age with shelter dogs.

"It was getting a little too lonely around here. He's been just who I needed. He's got a slight problem with his front paw." Togusa holds up his left hand, and flexes his wrist back and forth. "Dog version of an ankle, so far as I understand it. Doesn't want to flex all the way back so it's a little awkward for him to put full weight on that paw. It always looks like he's limping, but he gets around just fine."

"I help him out anyway." There are small carpet-covered blocks near the couch and chair, something just tall enough to be a good set of doggie steps, so Daisuke can follow Togusa around.